Director: Irvin Kershner
"The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet..." Darth Vader
Synopsis: After the victory over the Galactic Empire at the battle of Yavin, the Rebels are pursued across the galaxy, while Darth Vader continues his search for Luke Skywalker, in an attempt to bring him over to the Dark Side.
And now, we come to one of my childhood and current favourites, a film that I will always regard highly, and a film that should never be remade, as it will always stand the test of time. This is a film that I can easily watch over and over again, a film that got me interested in science fiction and fantasy. I can pretty much quote every line from this film from start to finish, even doing Yoda's voice when the occasion calls for it.
The opening scrawl disappears from the screen, and an immense Imperial Star Destroyer passes by, long distance remote probes being launched from its belly cargo bay. Being a home theatre nut as I am, this opening sequence is always played very loudly, much to my wife's dismay. But, c'mon! The sound of those probes flying past in 5.1 high definition surround sound? It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end!
Enter the icy world of Hoth. According to The Empire of Dreams documentary, the planet of Hoth was filmed in Norway in the middle of winter. The scene with Luke walking away from the "ice creature" had Mark Hamill in his costume walking away from the camera, with the camera crew safely warm inside the entrance to the hotel they were staying in. A blizzard had moved in, which made a perfect setting for the distressing situation that Luke was getting into, but not very nice conditions for filming.
Another development I liked from this film, which set it apart from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, was that Darth Vader (portrayed by David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones) became a much more menacing, evil and integral part of the story. In A New Hope he was there, (his background story not yet having been revealed) but always seemed to be just another pawn, one of Governor Tarkin's lackeys. In Empire, it's almost as though the character came into his own, and was the leader of the Imperial forces. "You have failed me for the last time, Admiral. Captain Piett, make ready to land our troops beyond their energy field, and deploy the fleet, so that nothing gets off the system. You are in command now, Admiral Piett."
James Earl Jones voiced the character again perfectly, adding menace and malevolence to the character. David Prowse, who played the man in the suit, learned and spoke all of Darth Vader's lines throughout the production, so the other actors had something to play off, but did not have the heavy bass in his voice to be menacing enough. Jones pulled this off beautifully in post production.
Harrison Ford returns to play Han Solo, the smuggler who decides to do the right thing. A love interest develops between him and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) throughout this film "You like me because I'm a scoundrel" which leaves you heart-broken at the end of the carbon-freeze chamber scene. Harrison Ford actually suggested to George Lucas during the review of the script that Han Solo should die, to bring more drama to the story.
Frank Oz pulled a rabbit out of a hat, (or rather put a hand up a muppets jacksy - "Ooh, tickles, that does") to bring one of the most memorable characters to the Star Wars universe. Most of the main story line of Empire revolves around the character of Yoda, a 3 foot tall puppet, voiced and controlled by Frank Oz. His performance of this character made Yoda so believable, often times in filming, Mark Hamill, and Irvin Kershner would look at Yoda and talk directly to "him" when trying to give Frank Oz instructions. The backwards speaking Jedi Master guides Luke through the initial stages of his Jedi training, constantly warning Luke of the dangers of straying from the path of good. "Anger, fear, aggression, the Dark Side are they..."
For the majority of the filming, Mark Hamill was the only actor on the daily call sheet, only to be surrounded by set pieces and props, lizards, snakes and smoke. Hamill pulled off playing against a puppet wonderfully. And Frank Oz did a brilliant performance with the voice of Yoda; the only other voice in film history that comes close to Yoda is Andy Serkis' performance of Gollum from Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. But more on that later.
We also see the introduction of a new character, Lando Calrissian, (portayed by Billy Dee Williams) the owner and administrator, (and also a bit of a smooth talking ladies man scoundrel) of Cloud City, on the planet Bespin. Han, Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Leia, and the two droids, C3PO and R2D2 (Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker) seek refuge from Vader's pursuing forces on Cloud City, only to fall directly into a trap set by Vader himself, in an attempt to lure Luke Skywalker, capture him and turn him to the Dark Side. The trap works, sort of, as Luke abandons his Jedi training, much to the dismay of Yoda and the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guinness) and goes in search of his friends, learns about his true parentage and loses a hand in the process.
The ending of this film leaves you wanting more. Much more. One of the main characters has been taken by a bounty hunter, another main character is torn between what he has been told by his old mentor and the truth. Luke and Leia gaze out the window of the Mon Calamari star cruiser as the Millennium Falcon piloted by Lando Calrissian and Chewbacca launches in search of Han Solo.
A great addition to this film is the music soundtrack, composed by John Williams, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. A dramatic piece is introduced for the introduction of the Imperial Fleet and Darth Vader. A soft, gentle piece is introduced for the appearance of Yoda. The final piece of music that plays over the last scene (titled The Rebel Fleet on the soundtrack) has a beautifully sad or lacrimoso quality to it, with the main piece of music made up of violins and horns. All in all, a good soundtrack to have if you like movie themed music.
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, if a project has enough money, the end result will turn out well. In 1978/79 when production started on The Empire Strikes Back the budget given was pretty big for those days, and the film turned out to be a great success. What makes this film stand out for me is that compared with most films released today, it still compares. The special effects, the story line and the acting was all very good, and there was a very high attention to detail. The sale of LucasFilm to Disney studios and the announcement of Star Wars Episode VII came as a great surprise to me. According to IMDB, Harrison Ford has already signed on to reprise his role as Han Solo, and talks are in progress to enlist Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher, with the finished product expected to be released in 2015.
My children will one day be brought up on the Star Wars films. And hopefully their children will be too.
Favourite scene: The Rebels are escaping from the planet Hoth, and the ion cannon fires several shots to make sure any enemy ships are out of the transport ships flight paths. "Stand by, ion control... Fire!”
My rating: 9.5 out of 10
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back should be available on BluRay and DVD in a box set with the other five Star Wars movies from all good DVD retailers.
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